STUDENT REFLECTION - Treatment Action Campaign - Abigail Helmick

This trip so far has been a true exploration and submergence into a completely different culture. The things that I have experienced thus far have challenged me to look at the bigger picture; which has allowed me to critically analyze the present challenges within the Treatment Action Campaign. Some of these challenges include high poverty rates, economic viability, and language barriers. Issues like these are present not only where I am interning, but everywhere in South Africa. By this, I mean that poverty rates are high (there is close to a 50% unemployment rate). With high poverty, how does a person scrounge up the money for transportation to get to work? Many of the people I have met work for R8 per day or less; which is the equivalent to $0.95 per day in America. These people whom I have met are among the most dedicated, most passionate people that I have ever encountered. But how far will passion alone take you?
The struggle for these people lies not in ideology, but rather in economic viability. For example, a bus ride to work costs around R5, then a ride home from work is another R5. If that same worker only earns a meager R8 per day and actually losing money rather than making it, how does that worker survive?
A significant difference that exists between South Africans and Americans is the ideology which they live by. If going to work everyday to an activist organization; such as the T.A.C., means making a difference in one person’s life…working towards a collective goal, and spending more on transportation that day than they make during that same day…it is worth it.
In America, people work towards the so called “American Dream,” the white picket fenced in house in the suburbs, the perfect children, the middle class dream; but how many people do you know in America that work beyond this dream? How many take action to fight for a common cause?
It is easy to criticize political leaders, and even more easy to say that it’s some one else’s problem or someone else’s issue. During my short stay here in South Africa, I have come to realize that nothing will ever change unless you take action. Just like my mother used to say, “You just can’t keep doing the same thing, and expect to see different results…something has to change!”
Activism is a challenge, but it is one of the most effective tools a community can possess. Nelson Mandela explains it best when he says:

“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter: I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill one only finds there are many more hills to climb. I have taken a moment here to rest, to steal a view of the glorious vista that surrounds me, to look back on the distance I have come. But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom comes responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended.” (Mandela, 1994)

The issues that so many South Africans face on a day to day basis are countless. These people fight every day for human rights that are so often taken for granted in our American culture. Here in South Africa, people are denied so many human rights everyday. The fight to gain these rights has begun and South Africa has made large strides towards a true democracy; but there is still a long way to go.